Question about defensive driving

After pulling my complete driving record (back to when I first got my license in 1985), there is only one entry. It's showing a Defensive Driving course that I took in May of 2005 (long story about a speeding ticket in an unmarked school zone...would have been below speed limit had the zone not been "in effect" at the time). It's showing an "offense date" and a "completion date", but only lists the event as "completed defensive driving course".

This should fall off of my record early next year. However, until then potential employers are going to see this. Will carriers ask me what this was for? Am I required to answer, by law (after all, this indicates that the citation was legally dismissed)?

 

Hmmmm...no takers?

 

Yeah, I thought of that, except for the two dates on the report, one called an "offense date". But the exact offense is not listed anywhere. And according to TX law, the offense is dismissed. It's just listed on the report to prevent drivers from taking DD more than is allowed by law. So, maybe it's a gray area...does a dismissed charge mean legally that it never happened? People are charged all the time for various crimes, only to have them dismissed. For instance, if I'm charged with a felony offense, but then the charge is dismissed for whatever reason, that doesn't make me a felon. So if I'm charged with speeding, then the charge is dismissed, that means I'm not a speeder?

 

The more I think about this, the more I think it won't be a big deal, even for companies that go back 5 years. Essentially, the trucking companies want a clean record "in the eyes of insurers" to keep insurance rates down (or even eligible to begin with). So DD essentially does nothing to insurance rates, or even brings it down for class C. So I believe I'm in the clear. If they ask, I'll be honest, but I think it's probably a moot point.